Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ANCIENT KOUSSINOK N'kanayoo!— Of the Olden Time! wise old Abenaki story-teller struck the keynote of universal human interest when he began his ancestral records with this expression: N'kanayoo! —Of the Olden Time! These words are fraught with significance. They appeal to the human heart in all lands and in all ages of the world. The love of the past and a desire to preserve the records of the past are inherent in the human race. To transfer the story of yesterday to some far-off to-morrow has ever been the mission of poet and historian; and to begin at the beginning has an irresistible charm. Therefore, in recalling the history of Old Hallowell, our minds and hearts are lured back to the "Olden Time" of the Abenaki story-teller; and, with him, we may very fitly say: N'kanayoo! for our record must begin with the days when the Abenaki Indian dwelt upon the banks of the Kennebec. The river shores, where Hallowell now stands, were once the ancestral hunting grounds of the "gentle Abenakis." According to their traditions, these Men of the Dawn held their patent directly from the hand of the Creator. The land had been theirs from the beginning of the world ; and it is now pleasant to believe that, from time immemorial, hearth-fires have burned upon our shores; that here old songs have been sung, brave deeds recounted, and ancient traditions retold for innumerable generations. The banks of Bombahook were once a favorite camping- ground of the Abenaki Indians ; the picturesque plateau, at the southern end of the " Plains," was the place of many lodges; and on the eastern shore of the river, in the northern portion of the territory originally included in the town of Hallowell,there was a large and permanent Abenaki village. With the early records of these Indian domains,...